Gotham City
by Myari
Summary: Gotham City is a city like no other. It's teeming with crazies so that the sane people are the ones that are locked away and kept hidden. The citizens allow a man dressed as a bat to save them and look down on people who try to do things themselves. Joker/Harley.


**Chapter 1-**

Harley bit her lip hard to keep her pain filled scream from slipping past her lips as the cane continually hit her. This was her fault. She should have paid more attention to what she was doing and not the meeting that was going on in the other room. Maybe then she would have noticed the food starting to burn. But she was curious to a fault. Always needing to know what was going on. Always wanted to be in on the action.

But she wasn't smart enough. Never had been, never would be. Dropped out of high school and everything. Ran away from a very nice home that had held two loving parents and three other siblings. Hopped from couch to couch, dirty alleyway to dirty alleyway, from holding cell to holding cell. But then he came along and dragged her into his life. He being Moriarty Holmes.

Moriarty gave her a roof over her head. A bed to sleep in, a bed he would occasionally occupy with her. And all she had to do was keep the place tidy and make his food. Harley was very good at keeping the place clean. But not so much with making his food.

"You stupid bitch!" Moriarty spat at her as he continued to hit her with his cane, his dark hair flying with every swing. "You dare burn the food _I_ bought with _my_ money!" He growled as Harley curled further in on herself. It's not like she could burn _her_ food, she couldn't _buy_ any food (or anything for that matter) because she _didn't_ have money. Moriarty wouldn't _let_ her have money. Finally he stopped with a heavy breath through his nose as he stood up, brushing his hair away from his face. "Clean up this mess. Then order some chinese." He ordered tossing some money at her.

"Yes, sir." Harley said standing up on wobbly legs, she walked over to the oven and began to clean up the burnt food. Once she was done with that, she ordered him his favorite from the usual chinese restaurant he loved. After Harley had finished her orders from him, she went and stood in the corner of the living room, the room where the meeting was taking place, and waited for her next order.

Harley let her eyes take in the man that Moriarty was talking to. He wasn't overly tall, maybe 6 feet or so, but he was skinny and lanky making him look taller than he was. He was dressed smartly too. In a nice green pinstripe suit, a green button up suit topped off with a dark green tie with purple swirls on it.

He was lazily leaning up against their fireplace that was more for decoration than anything else. His long legs were crossed and leaning against them was a thin silver cane that was topped with a question mark. His dark brown eyes were boredly taking in her in as well. His complexion was pale, almost sickly. And his eyes were sunken in and surrounded by dark bags that he only emphasized with the dark eyeshadow that he wore.

Harley knew better than to try and listen into the conversation the two men were having after being caught listening earlier, so she focused more on the voices than what was being said. Moriarty's voice was rough, scratchy, from years of tobacco and alcohol abuse. The other man's voice was smooth and rich, almost like melted chocolate. The way he manipulated his tone around his words with such ease showed the pride he had. It told a story, whispered promises. And the way he paused to think over his words showed the knowledge he held. Harley didn't have to hear his words to know they were large and intelligent like, words she would never say or even knew the meaning of.

"Get the damn door you damn idiotic broad." Moriarty yelled, tossing a crystal sphere at her, Harley moved just in time for it to hit the wall instead of her and hurried to the door, money in her hand. She opened the door quickly, opening it to a young boy with slightly orange hair and tired green eyes. They traded, him the money and her the food.

Quickly and as quietly as she could, Harley made her way to Moriarty's side before sitting on the floor beside his chair and laid the food out in front of him. "God Damn it, Ed, I'm tired of all the riddles!" Moriarty suddenly shouted causing her to flinch. "Are you or are you not going to help with my plan?"

"What's the single answer on your face?" Ed drawled out sounding bored out of his mind as he began to twirl his cane. Harley couldn't tear her eyes from the spinning silver cane, the way the light hit it just fascinated her.

"Not another fucking riddle!" Moriarty growled. "Just answer my fucking question."

"The answer to the riddle is the answer to your question." Ed said with a smirk as he stopped spinning the cane to lean on it instead of the fireplace.

"No." Harley's body whispered without her consent, she didn't know if she was whining about him stopping his spinning cane or answering the riddle. The instant the words were out of her mouth both men's attention was on her. Moriarty was angry that she had spoken out of turn, but Ed looked intrigued. She took a deep breath. "The answer to your riddle: No." Harley told the floor. Ed uncrossed his legs to take a couple of steps closer to her, spinning his cane so that he could use the question mark topper to tilt her chin up so that Harley was now looking at him instead of the floor.

"And you told me she was dumb." Ed said with a smirk.

"She is. She's a dumb bimbo that don't know nothing." Moriarty told Ed with a sniff as he grabbed one of the cartons of chinese food. Harley watched as Ed glared at Moriarty from the corner of his eye before he smirked at her.

"Grammar: not everyone can use it." He told Harley as he took a step closer to her before crouching in front of her, pinching her chin as he tilted her head this way and that. Searching her eyes for something. "You got a little demon in your eyes." He whispered to her. "Locked inside, howling to be let out. But who has the key? Not me."

With that said, Ed let Harley's chin go so he could stand up and twirled his cane in his right hand before having it come to rest on his shoulders with question mark topper over his left shoulder. He did it with such ease and without thought that Harley wondered how often he did it. The way Ed handled his cane, it was almost as if it was an extension of him. It fascinated her.

"Right." Ed tisked out, allowing the cane slip from his shoulder and into his left hand. "I don't work with idiots." Ed pointed the question mark topper at Moriarty. "And even if you could answer my riddles, which you never will be able to so don't even try, you've got a bounty on your head. You're a wanted man."

"Of course I'm a wanted man. I'm a fucking criminal! The same as you." Moriarty yelled at Ed, who tisked at him and wagged his right pointer finger in a reprimanding way.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Ed said with a pout, he was obviously taunting him. "Someone in the underworld wants you, you've caught their attention. And anyone caught working with you will be taken out of the picture. And I don't fancy a fight with a clown over you." Ed twirled his cane again tossing it into the air before catching it and slammed the bottom of it on the ground, and leaned on it. "Maybe once you've taken care of your bounty with him I might consider thinking about your plan." Ed kicked his cane out from under him and began to spin it again. "But if I do decide to do it, I'll only work with her." Ed pointed the question mark topper at Harley. "Good day." Ed smiled before leaving.

 **-?-**

The Joker grunted as he shifted on his lumpy bed in his hideout. He rolled to his stomach before rolling to his side. He gave an annoyed sigh. His mind wasn't going to let him sleep. It seemed he would be going yet another night without sleep. With a growl the Joker pushed off the bed and strolled over to the refrigerator box that was doubling as his makeshift closet. He dug around for a suit. If he couldn't sleep, then he was going out.

After finding a suit he threw it on before making his way to his bath room. He glared at his makeupless face. He hated it. It reminded him of his past life. Of his failures. Of the fact that he hadn't been strong enough to keep _them_ by his side. He sneered at his reflexion before quickly threw on his war paint. He wore the paint to remind him that he wasn't that man any more. That he was stronger now. That he had control. That he was the Joker and the other man was dead.

Once the Joker was finally looking at himself in the mirror he smiled at himself. His eyes caught sight of the dark brown roots showing through the green dye. It seemed it was time to re-dye his hair. Possibly even get it trimmed. He smacked his lips as he ran his fingers through his hair, not caring when the paint that was still on them clung to his hair.

He'd pick up more dye while he was out. Maybe before he visited a _friend_ he had been looking for and just recently found. Or he'd do it after. He'd see when he got there. Heck, he might do it _as_ he's visiting. He was sure his _friend_ wouldn't mind if he _borrowed_ his bathroom. That thought made him cackle. That sounded like a fun idea. Might even make his _friend_ help.

With a skip in his step, the Joker left his hideout and wandered down the road. Allowing his body to stumble and lean this way and that as he walked. Why should he walk in a straight line, allowing people to dictate how he walked. He was an agent of chaos. And chaos dictated that he _not_ walk a straight line. Plus, this was more fun. And he liked fun. Only did things that were fun to him.

He made it to a store that held his hair dye and pouted when the door wouldn't open. It was locked. Now that was no fun. The Joker kicked the glass door in and easily stepped into the store, hands in his pockets as he whistled a little tune that decided to visit his mind. He grabbed a shopping cart and began to roam the isles. He knew which isle held his hair dye, but where was the fun in just going straight to it.

The Joker began to pick things up off the shelves and, without looking at what they were, threw them into his cart. He'd figure out what he got later and how to use them. Anything and everything was useful, you just needed to have a clever mind to figure out how to use them to your advantage.

He finally made it to the isle that held his hair dye. The Joker parked the cart in front of his dyes and hummed as he stared at the dyes. He stretched his arms out and scooped up the whole section of green dyes and dropped them into the cart. He stepped back from the now over flowing cart and smacked his lips while a box tumbled from the pile and landed on the ground. He grunted at the box and contemplated picking it up. He bent and put the box in his coat pocket before standing back up and pushed the cart out of the store.

As he walked towards his _friend's_ apartment with the overflowing cart, the Joker would occasionally stop to pick up boxes of hair dye whenever they fell. By the time he got to the building that held his _friend's_ apartment the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. The Joker nodded towards the worker standing outside the building, placing a box of dye in the man's pocket as he passed him to enter the building.

"Hi." He greeted the young woman sitting behind a desk as he passed it, only stopping to pick up a fallen box of dye and sat it on the desk for the young woman. The Joker made his way over to the elevator, hit the up button and patently waited for the elevator. When it got there, he carefully maneuvered the cart into the small space, picking up any fallen boxes, before hitting the floor number he needed.

"Hello." The Joker greeted the confused looking men that were waiting for the elevator on the floor he needed. "'Scuse me." He said politely as he pushed the cart out of the elevator. "That's mine." He informed one of the men who had kindly picked up one of his boxes of dye. The man nervously handed the box back. "Thanks." He said tossing the box back onto the pile before making his way down the hallway towards his _friend's_ apartment.

When he got to the door he needed, he checked his watch. The trip there had taken a little longer than he had planned. His _friend_ would have already left for work. Oh well, he shrugged. His _friend_ wouldn't mind if he waited for him inside. The Joker dug through his pockets for a minute before finding his lock pick and began to pick the lock. His eyes widened in shock when the door suddenly swung open. He glanced at the young woman who had opened the door. That was unexpected.

"Hi." He said licking his lips. "Do you think you can help me dye my hair?"


End file.
